I'm a huge fan of the Roller Coaster Tycoon series. The original two games, RollerCoaster Tycoon 1 and 2, were created by developer legend Chris Sawyer and published by Hasbro Interactive and Infogrames respectively. Both titles, as well as the third entry, were massively popular - but I think most can agree the series declined after that. The latest entry, RollerCoaster Tycoon World, was an unfinished mess that shifted developers several times and currently has a 'Mostly Negative' rating on Steam.

Most, if not all of RollerCoaster Tycoon's mobile entries haven't been well-received by fans. There was RCT4 Mobile and RCT Touch, both only bearing a passing resemblance to the main series and loaded with micro-transactions. This time around, Atari has released RollerCoaster Tycoon Classic, a remastered version heavily based on the first two games. And it's actually - gasp - fun.

If you've never played the RCT series, the concept is fairly simple - you own an amusement park, and you must complete the objectives in the given scenario. Objectives include having a certain number of guests, a specific park rating, and so on. As owner, you must also appease your guests by building adequate facilities, keeping the park clean, and fixing broken rides. You can place down pre-built rides like the Merry-Go-Round and Ferris Wheel pictured above, or build your own custom roller coasters.

RollerCoaster Tycoon Classic does have in-app purchases, but they consist of the DLC created for RCT2 (Wacky Worlds and Time Twister) and 'Toolkit'. The two DLCs add more park scenarios and new rides, and Toolkit includes new editing tools and allows you to import/export your parks. With Toolkit, you can even import most saved parks from the original RCT2 PC game.

Overall, in the time I have played it so far, I'm very pleased with this game - but there are a few issues. RTC Classic is not as enjoyable on smaller screens as larger displays - you can see more of your park at once on larger displays. Compatibility is very strange at the moment; both my Pixel and Nexus 5X were marked as incompatible, but my Meizu M5 Note worked just fine. And finally, there is no sandbox mode, a flaw shared by the original games.

Alternate title: The best Roller Coaster Tycoon game in years is a mobile port

I would have bought this in a heartbeat if it were compatible with my 6P, but it looks like I might just have to pirate it instead. What a shame. I'd gladly throw my money at this.

Randroid

It's compatible with a lot more devices now. Check again. A lot of others who said it wasn't compatible with 6P are saying it is now.

Nicholas

Not compatible with my Pixel XL or Nexus 6

Puchy

I hope they release an HD version like Microsoft did with Age of Empires II ... this two games are my childhood.

"RTC Classic is not as enjoyable on smaller screens as larger displays" - Agree 100%

The Bilderbergers

Those two games were my childhood as well!

Kenton

*Cough* OpenRCT2 *Cough*

Didgeridoo Player

Atari had little to do with this except slapping their name on it. Chris Sawyer personally wanted to get RCT1/2 onto Mobile just like Transport Tycoon. A lot of UI choices look similar too, as you'll notice. Origin8 has been the one making sense of Chris' x86 assembly code and converting to C, while Chris' role itself might be ranging from simple consultant to lead programmer (though the latter is most unlikely).

Yeah, this isn't a micro-transaction riddled mess because Atari had nothing to do with it.

Jessiejchaput

Google is paying 97$ per hour! Work for few hours and have longer with friends & family! !sf176c:
On tuesday I got a great new Land Rover Range Rover from having earned $8752 this last four weeks.. Its the most-financialy rewarding I've had.. It sounds unbelievable but you wont forgive yourself if you don’t check it
!sf176c:
➽➽
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Claradflores

Google is paying 97$ per hour! Work for few hours and have longer with friends & family! !mj282d:
On tuesday I got a great new Land Rover Range Rover from having earned $8752 this last four weeks.. Its the most-financialy rewarding I've had.. It sounds unbelievable but you wont forgive yourself if you don’t check it
!mj282d:
➽➽
➽➽;➽➽ http://GoogleFinancialJobsCash282ShopFactoryGetPay$97Hour... ★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★✫★★::::::!mj282d:....,......

Lord Argyris

My Nexus 5X, as the article states, is incompatible, which is a shame as having a pocketable version of RCT I can play on my smartphone sounds pretty awesome. Evidently my 2013 Nexus 7 will work, and I was considering picking it up off the shelf and trying this game, except if I'm going to go that far, I might as well dig my ancient Windows laptop out of the drawer and install my copy of the original RCT + expansion packs on it.

Buzzy42

Doesn't want to install on my LG V20 or the G3 it replaced (on Marshmallow) but likes the Android 4 and 5 devices I have cluttering up my account. Hrrm. Hopefully it's just a testing or listing glitch that they'll get fixed soon.

Mike

It looks like they have updated it since last night, it is now saying that it is compatible with my V20 when last night it said it wasn't.

I also see they are replying to reviews that they just released a new version so it makes sense.

The Bilderbergers

No Note 4 compatability yet.. I need this game NOW!

Corey Watford

Finally, Buying right now!
btw if anyone cares it's also available for the iPad

I understand that Google Play Games services (achievements, cloud saving for multi-device use, etc.) is not everyone's cup of tea, but it really does confuse me how it goes unmentioned on a site like Android Police that's dedicating an entire post to letting me know the game exists.

Google Play itself is inconsistent in letting you know when a game fully supports some of these features, and it's a shame, but I wish we knew from this post and really, any game post here if the basics are supported.

I'm not complaining, I love this website, and its writers, and have been an avid reader for years, but it's Thursday and I need something to complain about. Thanks, guys.

The Bilderbergers

Working on my Note 4 now! With the S-pen this game is awesome!

mbarna

Shouldn't the article at least mention that the same game was also released on iOS? I understand this is an Android-blog, but the current version of the article is almost misleading -- I just sent this to an iPhone using friend, and we had to google for Roller Coaster Tycoon iOS to find the Engaget article about this same announcement. Surely, AP-readers should be safe sharing articles like this with our iPhone-using friends, shouldn't we?